Sunday, August 22, 2010

Meek headed for a big win

Kendrick Meek is headed for a blowout victory in Tuesday's Florida Democratic Senate primary. He's now at 51% to 27% for Jeff Greene with the other candidates splitting 9% and 13% still undecided.

Jeff Greene made a bad first impression on Florida Democrats and the more they got to know him the less they liked him. His favorability numbers on a mid-July PPP poll with the primary electorate were 22/33. Now millions more dollars later they're 28/47. It's not often someone manages a -19 favorability spread within their own party but Greene's candidacy has been one of a kind.

Certainly Meek's 70-9 lead over Greene with African Americans, who should make up about a quarter of the primary electorate, is important to his strong advantage. But he's also up 47-37 with white voters, a big improvement from PPP's previous poll of the race and an indication that Bill Clinton's efforts on his behalf may have paid off in a big way.

Meek is polling particularly well with liberals, where he has a 64-20 lead. But he's also up 49-32 with moderate Democrats and 34-30 with conservative ones.

While it appears Meek is headed for an impressive victory on Tuesday night these poll numbers also exemplify the trouble ahead for his candidacy. Meek's favorability with Democratic voters is 50%. Charlie Crist's job approval rating with them is 57%. Given that his road in the general election is a very tough one.

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It's interesting to see the results of Meek's candidacy after a visit and rally with President Clinton. President Clinton could be the most valuable Democrat on the stump this cycle. In fact, are the Clintons the two most popular members of the Democratic Party right now?

How unfortunate for Floridians if Greene doesn't win. He is the smartest candidate out there and he would have fought for Floridians and created more jobs and done more for Florida than any other candidate. Who is more valuable than a guy with a proven track record of results and a keen understanding of our economy? Meek supported Hillary so Clinton reluctantly helped Meek with a wink and a nod. We all know Clinton's real choice. Vote Greene and get Florida back on track.